| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Kyriakos Papadopoulos | ||
| Date of birth | 23 February 1992 | ||
| Place of birth | Katerini, Greece | ||
| Height | 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||
| Playing position | Centre back | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Schalke 04 | ||
| Number | 14 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2006–2007 | Svoronos Katerinis | ||
| 2007–2009 | Olympiacos | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2009–2010 | Olympiacos | 12 | (0) |
| 2010– | Schalke 04 | 34 | (1) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2008–2009 | Greece U1-7 | 6 | (1) |
| 2009–2010 | Greece U-19 | 15 | (1) |
| 2010–2011 | Greece U-21 | 7 | (2) |
| 2011– | Greece | 6 | (2) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 17 December 2011. † Appearances (Goals). |
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Kyriakos Papadopoulos (born 23 February 1992) is a Greek footballer. He currently plays for Schalke 04 as a central defender and defensive midfielder.
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Born in Katerini, Papadopoulos was signed from hometown club, Svoronos Katerinis, and was promoted from the Olympiacos U18 team in July 2007. He has so far featured in several Olympiacos pre-season friendlies, three league games and three Greek cup games.
In the summer of 2007, Papadopoulos was invited on trial to train with the Espanyol youth team during the pre-season, with a view to giving the player a role in the team. However, Papadopoulos performed well enough for the club's management staff to fast-track him, promoting him to the reserve team, and then once more to the first team, offering him a contract immediately.
However, Olympiakos scouts were also aware of the prodigy's talents, and especially the former Manager of Olympiacos Mr. George Louvaris was quick to secure a deal with Papadopoulos' father Nikos Papadopoulos, thus bringing him to Piraeus.
The 2007–08 season was promising for Papadopoulos. He made his competitive debut for Olympiacos in the Greek Superleague as a substitute during a 3–1 win over Atromitos on 2 December 2007,[1] thus becoming the youngest player to ever play in the Greek league. He also made the substitutes bench in the Champions League against Real Madrid and Lazio, and has featured in several Greek Cup games. If Papadopoulos featured in any Champions League games, he would have smashed the record for the youngest player to ever compete in the competition by nearly two years.
In September 2008, Papadopoulos signed a new contract with Olympiakos, which included a £4.6 million release clause, over three years. On 2 November 2008 Papadopoulos made his first league appearance of the 2008/2009 season for Olympiakos at home to Ergotelis in a 2–0 home win.
On 23 June 2010, German club FC Schalke 04 announced that they had signed Papodopoulos on a four year deal. He scored his first goal for Schalke in a 6 - 1 win over HJK Helsinki, it was a header met by a fine delivery from the wing.[2]
He was called for duty for the U-19 Greece team to participate in the Elite round of the 2007 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship. He participated in all three group games against Moldova, Netherlands and Russia, helping Greece finish top and qualify for the finals.
Papadopoulos featured at the heart of the Greek defence in the finals tournament and was partners with team-mate Konstantinos Lambropoulos. He was instrumental in keeping a clean sheet against the Czech Republic, as well as good performances against England and Italy. His performances attracted attention from scouts of teams such Manchester United and Nottingham Forest, Arsenal FC and Chelsea FC.[3]
The teams were impressed with the defender's maturity in a competition in which he was the youngest player by 13 months. Despite being the youngest player in the tournament, he was also one of the 10 most talented players in Europe as considered by UEFA in their UEFA U19 Team of the Tournament.[4]
Otto Rehhagel is also said to have been impressed with the youngster's performances, and has met with EPO officials to talk about moving Papadopoulos to the senior team.[5]
Having done an excellent year with Schalke 04, on June 4 2011 the head coach of the Greek national football team, Fernando Santos called him for the first time on the men's national football team, in a match against Malta. Due too Avraam Papadopoulos injury and Sokratis Papastathopoulos inability to play, he took place in the squad next to Vangelis Moras. Not only did he have an excellent game backwards, but he also scored the second goal of his team. On September 6th 2011, he scored his second international goal against Latvia in the UEFA Euro 2012 qualification
International goals
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 4 June 2011 | Karaiskakis Stadium, Piraeus, Greece | Malta | 2–0 | 3–1 | UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying |
| 2. | 6 September 2011 | Skonto Stadium, Riga, Latvia | Latvia | 1–1 | 1–1 | UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying |
International Statistics
| Greece national team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Apps | Goals |
| 2011 | 6 | 2 |
| Total | 6 | 2 |
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